Guadalmedina shooting range could be shut down

IZQUIERDA UNIDA is to put forth a proposal to shut down the Guadalmedina shooting range.

The coalition of left-wing political organisations is to submit a proposal to the Municipal Sports Commission requesting Malaga Council and the Junta de Andalucia (regional government) to shut down the Guadalmedina shooting range for lack of an opening licence and other irregularities.

The proposal comes after the fire that ravaged Los Montes de Malaga on August 10 and burned through an area of 273 hectares, 40 of which belonged to the natural park.

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Police and environmental investigators determined that the fire originated in the shooting range due to carelessness whilst practising the sport. Presumably, sparks generated from bullets hitting stones set fire to the surrounding dry vegetation, an explanation later disputed by the Andalucian Shooting Federation. The shooting range, they said, had put in place the necessary security measures.

According to Izquierda Unida, Malaga Council and the Junta de Andalucia turned a deaf ear to complaints sent to local administrations on previous occasions alerting to some irregularities at the shooting range, including the lack of fire prevention measures and of a wastewater treatment system. In fact, as early as April, a local association (Dairdeto) asked the mayor to shut down the shooting range for environmental reasons. The Environmental Council later sent Dairdeto a letter saying there were no irregularities at the shooting range.

Regarding the alleged lack of an opening licence, the Junta de Andalucia said the shooting range was opened with the authorisation of the Ministry of Agriculture in 1972 for a period of 29 years (2001), which was later extended until 2022.